Masayuki Saito, Chairman of the National Federation of Care Providers

The desire to be the coolest person is what drives me

Chairman of the National Federation of Care Providers　Masayuki Saito(Masayuki Saito)

■ Profile

Born in Ikoma City, Nara Prefecture in 1978. After graduating from Ritsumeikan University in March 2000, he joined a consulting company where he worked on food and beverage industry consulting and business revitalization. He then moved into the nursing care industry, serving as director and general manager of the operations division of a nursing home company and vice president and director of a day care service company, before founding Japan Nursing Care Venture Consulting Group, Inc., in August 2013. In June 2018, he participated in the establishment of the National Federation of Nursing Care Providers, a cross-sectional organization of nursing care providers that transcends the boundaries of corporate and service type, and became its chairman in June 2020. He also holds key positions in other nursing care organizations and corporations, devoting himself to the development of the nursing care industry.

Masayuki Saito runs the National Federation of Nursing Care Providers, an organization that brings together care industry operators across the boundaries of corporations and service types. He started out as a consultant for a venture company before moving into the nursing care industry because he wanted to do work that would benefit people. We spoke to him about his journey up to the present day and the attitude he values ​​when working.

I realized I was a frog in a well. Stimulating encounters and environments change me.

Until I was halfway through my 20s, I lived a completely normal university life, going to school, working a part-time job, and hanging out with friends. My commute to school took just under two hours, so I used that time to read a lot of books. I would sometimes get so absorbed in reading on the way that I would just go home without going to university (laughs). I read a wide range of genres, and I think that has influenced my current work and outlook on life.
As job hunting approached, I began to think about my future. I applied for a student internship for Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike and interned under her. After my internship ended, Koike asked me if I wanted to work for her for a while, so I worked there for a year as a trainee secretary. At the same time, I also worked on setting up and running an NPO. This environment made me realize just how small a frog I was. I was the type of person who could do anything well, but here, it was commonplace to see students starting startups and people in their 20s serving as politicians, and I keenly felt the overwhelming gap between me and them. This moment ignited my competitive spirit, and from then on, I spent my university life devoted to work and almost no play, believing that the only way an average person like me could beat a genius was through hard work.

■ I want to be the coolest person in accordance with my own values ​​and aesthetic sense.

After graduating from university, I joined a consulting firm for venture companies. I had been interested in starting a venture since I met someone there when I was a student intern. However, I couldn't just start a business out of nowhere, so I decided to join a company first and gain experience, so I chose to work for a company that is known as a "black company."
I basically only had two or three days off a month, and my average time leaving work was 1am - it was a life of hardcore corporate bullying (laughs). I gained a lot of knowledge about management, business and consulting, of course, but more than anything, I gained a lot of basic stamina for the job. Since then, I've hardly experienced anything more difficult than that, so even though I was only doing about 80% of the workload, people around me would be shocked and say I was working too much. It really helped me to build up my immunity.
The driving force behind me at the time was always imagining the ideal image of "I want to be the coolest person in my own unique sense of beauty and values," and "I want to do something for the world and for people, and do something huge." This is my purpose in life, and the axis of my life.

■ Wanting to help others, I changed jobs to the nursing care industry

I was looking for opportunities to personally drive practical work and work in an environment where I could join the management team. I discovered the nursing care industry, which aligned with my desire to "help people." At my first nursing care company, I was 26 years old and played a key role in management as both an employee and director. Over the course of seven years, we expanded the number of nursing care facilities from two to approximately 150, and within three years, we were able to go public. While working there, I began to see more and more social issues, and I became more and more absorbed in the nursing care business. I felt that I had to work with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to change the way nursing care is provided from a field perspective. However, within this listed company, it was difficult to pursue initiatives that did not lead to profits. Determined to accomplish this major milestone in my life, I decided to move to my second company as vice president.

■It's an industry where voices are hard to get heard. That's why we continue to reform from a field perspective.

There are actually way too many nursing care industry groups like ours. The fact is that the groups are fragmented by type of corporation and type of service, and each group is small, so their voices don't reach the government. That's why we need everyone to come together and become a larger group. That's why we continue to convey the voices of those on the front lines. At the same time, in order to make the social security system sustainable, we don't simply call for an increase in nursing care fees, but we continue to propose a review of rules from a field perspective, such as improving productivity and regulatory reform, and we continue to make reforms.

■We are looking for innovative people.

I would like to work with people who want to "improve society themselves" and "create innovation." It is true that we must increase the number of nursing care workers due to the demographic structure. However, I believe that there are innovative things we can do in the nursing care industry. One axis is to utilize digital transformation and ICT technologies to reform the workplace and increase productivity. Compared to other industries, there are fewer players, so in a sense it is also an opportunity. I would like to work with people who are motivated to improve society with that kind of thinking.

■Message

When you hear the term "caregiving," it may seem like something from the distant future and you may not be interested, but it is something that you will almost certainly be involved in at some point, so I urge you to keep your ears open. It is also an industry full of opportunities from a business perspective. And while you are a student, keep challenging yourself to do what you want to do. The world is bigger than you think, and life is fleeting. Everyone has their own way of enjoying life, but I hope you will find your own "core" and keep working hard without comparing yourself to others.

Student Newspaper Online January 30, 2022 Interview by Misaki Otsuka, 4th year student at Tokai University